Patented and Distinctive Bit Braces, a Research Study
by
George Langford, Sc.D.
Updated February 20, 2004
return to bit brace study
 
Connections between attorneys Wilhelm & Bonner 
and the Buffalo, New York, brace patentees.
 
Firms in which Charles Amidon took part, however tenuously, according to the Directory of American Toolmakers.
Firm
Location
Dates in Operation
Millers Falls Mfg. Co. (was Gunn & Amidon)
Greenfield, 
Massachusetts
1861-1872
Amidon Mfg. Co.
Greenfield, 
Massachusetts
ca.1872-1877,
per Sandy Moss
Saxton & Amidon
Buffalo
1877-1883
Brace & Tool Co. (Amidon)
Buffalo
ca.1880
Amidon & Bastedo
Buffalo
1887-1892
Amidon & Hastell
Buffalo
Unknown
Amidon & White
Buffalo
1883-1887
Saxton & Osgood
Buffalo
1886-1887
Saxton
Buffalo
1890-1892
Amidon Tool Co.
Buffalo
1894-1895
American Bit Brace Co. (by Ansley D. White)
Buffalo
1888-1892
Most of the patentees listed below are presumed to be connected to the Amidon concern(s) through a common law firm (Wilhelm & Bonner) and common witnesses (Buchheit, Brady & Popps). This is based on the assumption that the attorneys would not have undertaken to prepare any patents for a competitor of Amidon or one of the related firms where a conflict of interest might arise. Note that the Emil Neuhart acting as witness and Emil Neuhart the attorney are one and the same person, establishing continuity between the firms of Wilhelm & Bonner, Neuhart & Burkhart, and Neuhart.  The attorneys Stark, Sangster, and Drake are apparently independent of Amidon.  Note also that the January 14, 1868 patent won by Amidon was in use by both the Millers Falls Company and the American Bit Brace Company. That patent date is marked on a brace of mine made by the American Bit Brace Co.  This brace calls into question the start date of the American Bit Brace Company, presently thought to be 1882 per the DAT. Patentees with italicized names seem not be be in the Amidon group in spite of their Buffalo residencies.
I am indebted to Ron Pearson for his book, The American Patented Brace, 1829-1924, and its images of patent drawings wherein I found the attorney and witness signatures that made this correlation possible. The comments in the right hand column refer to Pearson's rating system, where NS means not seen (by Pearson or anyone on whom Pearson relied), A means rarest, and B means less rare but certainly not common, C, still not common, and FF meaning frequently found. With the advent of the Internet and in particular eBay, these ratings are relatively about the same, except that some patent examples of which Pearson was unaware have now surfaced.  I have put Pearson's NS rating into italics where I know that examples do exist.  For the present, patentee's names are linked to known examples in my collection and/or in the collection of Sandy Moss, magnificently presented on his website. Use your browser's BACK button to get back to this page. Eventually, I will also link the patent numbers to the excellent website of the US Patent and Trademark Office where you can look up the patent images yourself. 
US Patent 
Number
Inventor &
Buffalo resident
Patent Date
Attorneys
Witnesses
Comments
 73,279
Amidon (MA)
January 14, 1868
Smith, R.D.
Gunn & Newton
Pearson C
140,451
Amidon
 July 1, 1873
Smith, R.D.
Lyons & Bartle
Pearson NS
193,632
Amidon
July 31, 1877 
None listed 
Grinnell & Park
Pearson A
210,075
Amidon
November 19,1878
Wilhelm & Bonner
Buchheit & Brady 
Pearson B 
217,672
Amidon
July 22, 1879 
Wilhelm & Bonner
Buchheit & Brady 
Pearson NS 
226,646
Amidon
April 20, 1880 
Wilhelm & Bonner
Buchheit & Brady 
Pearson B 
235,380
Rightmeyer
 December 14, 1880
Sangster, James
Guestwell & Sangster
Pearson A 
243,093
Watson
 June 21, 1881
Drake, J.R.
Parsons & Burnett
Pearson NS 
246,513
Ireland 
August 30, 1881 
Wilhelm & Bonner
Buchheit & Brady 
Pearson NS 
263,455
Amidon
August 29, 1882 
Wilhelm & Bonner
Buchheit & Brady 
Pearson FF 
283,844
Amidon
August 28, 1883 
Wilhelm & Bonner
Buchheit & Brady 
Pearson B 
286,388
Clarkson
October 9, 1883 
Stark, Michael J.
Stark & Stark
Pearson A 
294,762
Clarkson
March 11, 1884 
Stark, Michael J.
Stark & Stark
Pearson NS 
298,542
Amidon 
May 13, 1884 
Wilhelm & Bonner
Popps & Buchheit
Pearson B 
305,263
Amidon 
September 16, 1884 
Wilhelm & Bonner
Brady & Popps 
Pearson B 
309,902
Watson
December 30, 1884 
Sangster, James
Sangster & Sangster 
Pearson NS 
344,130
Osgood 
June 22, 1886 
Wilhelm & Bonner
Popps & Buchheit
Pearson B 
348,182
Amidon 
August 31, 1886 
Wilhelm & Bonner
Buchheit & Pitman
Pearson NS 
361,368
Osgood 
April 19, 1887 
Wilhelm & Bonner
Popps & Buchheit
Pearson A 
378,274
White 
February 21, 1888 
Wilhelm & Bonner
Popps & Buchheit
Pearson NS 
428,984
Wilcox 
May 27, 1890 
Wilhelm & Bonner
Buchheit & Neuhart
Pearson A 
438,388
Zirikelback
October 14, 1890 
None listed 
Hoddick & Menlott
Pearson NS
812,198
Gessert 
February 13, 1906 
 Neuhart & Burkhart
Lankes & Maier
Pearson NS 
859,059
Haeberli et al. 
July 2, 1907 
Neuhart, Emil
Offutt & Feinle
Pearson A 
890,801
Schmidt 
June 16, 1908 
Neuhart, Emil
Feinle & Rapp
Pearson NS